Epiphany
by Warlord1096
Summary: What if Harry's Christmas tryst with Cho had gone a bit differently? Mix in two gatecrashers, Dementors, Gryffindor Courage, and a gigantic Epiphany. The result? Chocolate romance. HP/GW


**Author's Note: My first Harry Potter fanfiction, so please read and review, and go easy on me. I'm an avid chocolate shipper, and I tried to do my best. Cheers!**

**Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns everything. Everything Harry Potter, ie. The first three lines are taken from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (in bold).**

**HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP**

EPIPHANY

**'I really like you, Harry.'**

**He could not think. A tingling sensation was spreading through him, paralysing his arms, legs and brain.**

**She was much too close. He could see every tear clinging to her eyelashes . . .**

And suddenly the door to the Room of Requirement burst open, and the two of them sprang apart. Michael Corner and Ginny Weasley came into view, both with flushed and sweaty faces -

And they promptly stopped short as they took in the other two occupants of the room. Harry noticed as Ginny's eyes passed over their position, and they narrowed as she saw the mistletoe hanging over their heads, before her face took on an inscrutable expression.

For some reason, something twinged in Harry's stomach when he realised this.

Taking a second, he mentally questioned himself why that would happen, but he came up with nothing. Yet, at the back of his head, an explanation was building, but it was just out of reach...

"Urm," he said, quite articulately, not knowing what else to say.

"Well, this is awkward," said Ginny, who, for some reason, would not look Harry in the eye.

"Chang, are you crying?" asked Michael bluntly. "Potter's not that bad a kisser, is he?" he asked smugly.

Harry opened his mouth to retort, but Cho beat him to it.

"For your information," replied Cho hotly, "I was the one who was trying to kiss him, before you turned up with your little girlfriend! So I'll ask you to leave right now!"

Ginny huffed at the use of the term 'little', and Harry had to admit that he was a little peeved as well. Ginny Weasley was not a little girl at all, after what she had been through in her life – an involuntary shiver passed down Harry's spine when he thought about the trials he'd endured.

All the while, unknown even to the Boy-Who-Lived, cogs were turning in his head, slowly gaining momentum, heading slowly to a larger truth.

"I'm sorry, Chang," shot back Michael coolly, "but I've spent far too long planning this picnic and our first kiss!"

Harry couldn't help himself, and he let out a snort of laughter. Next to him, Cho did the same. Ginny's face, however, resembled a squashed tomato.

_She looks cute when she blushes, _thought Harry absently. Inside his head, slowly, drumrolls began playing, softly. The cogs kept on turning, turning –

"You _planned_ your first kiss?" asked Cho scathingly. "I knew people in my house loved schedules and rules, Corner, but _this?_"

Michael seemed to have realised his blunder, as his face coloured drastically. He grabbed onto Ginny's hand (the drumrolls in Harry's head slowly picked up pace, as he noticed this action and suddenly experienced an unpleasant sensation in his stomach), and his face turned a shade of purple that would match Uncle Vernon's.

"You're one to speak, Chang! Like you didn't plan this too...staying back after the DA to corner Potter into kissing you!"

"Well, at least Harry _wants_ to kiss me," replied Cho childishly, "that Ginger of yours doesn't look too excited at the prospect of her first kiss!"

Ginny blushed furiously, and even though Harry found the 'Ginger' comment to be rather demeaning, he took another second to appreciate Ginny's long red hair. It was like a curtain of the finest silk, and he knew for a fact that it smelled brilliant too – like flowers – because he'd found the scent to be quite pleasant, having been exposed to it several times during the summer holidays.

_Funny, how he'd never given it any thought before..._

"I can't say you're very excited either! Bawling your eyes out while trying to kiss him – it's pathetic, really!"

Corner should definitely have made friends with Ron, decided Harry, as Cho puffed up and drew herself up to full height.

"I'll have you know that I want to kiss Harry very much, and I know for a fact that we'll be dating after you leave, and we can complete our kiss!" said the angry Asian girl.

"Erm," interjected Harry, butting into the conversation for the first time, not noticing how Ginny's shoulders had slumped slightly at Cho's last comment. "About that..."

He'd given this some thought before. He _did_ like Cho a lot, and he honestly wouldn't mind kissing her, but dating her, after what had happened with Cedric, would be just..._creepy._

Michael smirked as Cho rounded on Harry, snarling, "What do you mean, 'about that?' You _are_ going to be in a relationship with me!"

And Harry's temper flared up immediately on being talked to like that. "What do you mean I _will_ be in a relationship with you?" he asked hotly, "you can't dictate what I do!"

"But – but- you like me!" Cho spluttered.

"But that doesn't mean I'll date you!" yelled Harry, "For God's sakes, you were dating Cedric! I saw him die before my eyes! How can you expect me to snog you after that?"

Corner was smirking, but Ginny Weasley was finding it hard not to start jumpin up and down in glee.

_No, _mentally chastised herself, _I'm with Michael!_

_Who planned our first kiss out..._she finished in her head distastefully.

_Even if Harry won't snog Cho, he could never like me anyway!_ And that was that for her glee.

"You were doing fine before they turned up!" shouted Cho.

"You blindsided me!"

"WHAT?" the Asian seemed to be at a loss for words. "Y- you can't reject me! Don't you see, Harry?" her voice took on a pleading quality, "this is the best way for us to discuss Cedric too, and find closure on the matter!"

Harry was so stumped, that he momentarily lost his voice. Everyone in the room had their mouths hanging open, while Cho was breathing heavily, her eyes shining again.

"_That's what this is about to you?_" he spat. "Why didn't you just ask me? I would have told you, showed you what happened, if you'd just asked me! There was no need for all this _bullshit!_"

Anger rose up inside him like a tidal wave, as he realized that she'd been playing him all along – and in that instant, he saw her for what she was – and he was disgusted –

" B – but - " the tears were falling freely right now, but Harry wasn't bothered.

" H – Harry," Cho hiccupped and began again, but this time, Ginny, who looked quite furious too, cut her off.

"Shut up and leave, you stupid bint, can't you see that he can't be bothered with you any longer?" she said.

_Merlin, that felt good!_ Thought the littlest Weasley silently, with no small amount of satisfaction. _How dare she use Harry that way, who's so kind, and sweet, and brave, and –_

_MICHAEL CORNER, MICHAEL CORNER, MICHAEL CORNER! _Ground out the part of her brain that was still rational, but it seemed to be a losing battle –

Her heart leapt and she felt a vindictive sort of pleasure when Harry held his hands up, and said, "What she said!" nonchalantly.

"Fine!" yelled Cho, "fine! You can leave me and go shack up with your precious Granger now! Or maybe you'll finally realise that you like the Weaslette and do something about it! It's pathetic, how you glance at her all the time, and you don't even realise that you fancy her!"

Needless to say, Harry was stunned. _Me – fancy Ginny? I – I don't look at her –_

A group of fireworks arranged themselves in a long row inside his cranium, primed to go off at any second. Realisation was coming, coming, it was just around the corner –

On the other side of the room, to say that Ginny was _shocked_ would be an understatement –

_H – Harry could never notice me, _the rational side of her brain said. _C – could he?_

_Ohmygod ohmygodohmygod! _Squealed the not-so-rational side of her head, _! _

But Cho, it seemed, had no intention of stopping, now that she'd built up steam-

"You'll never have it as good as you'd have it with me!" she yelled, "I'm the Queen of this school, Potter, you can't just ditch me like a two – bit nobody! I'm ditching you, you hear me! I hope that all three of you are set upon by sodding dementors, and have your sodding souls sucked out!" And she promptly stalked out the door.

And that was when the shit really hit the fan.

The Room of Requirement, is a room that grants the wish of any student of Hogwarts, and changes itself to accommodate itself best to the wishes of said students.

To use the room, you have to walk across the seventh floor corridor thrice, thinking about what you want the room to do, and it will proceed to do so to the best of its ability.

Of course, if you're inside the room, anything you ask for – the room will automatically provide.

For example, if you suddenly hoped fervently that someone would be set upon by Dementors, and have their soul sucked out, it would proceed to try and fulfil that promise.

According to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration, however, it couldn't provide life, or wealth, or food, so it couldn't _actually _produce dementors. Instead, it rounded up every possible cupboard and closet inside the castle which contained a boggart, because it could sense that the greatest fear of one of the occupants of the room was a Dementor –

And this is why three students suddenly found themselves surrounded by over a hundred and fifty dementors.

The temperature in the room fell faster than Hagrid's face when he learnt that he'd have to let go of Norbert – one second, it was pleasantly cool to emulate the Yuletide atmosphere, next second, it was freezing, and the air swirling with mist, as the Dementors drew in their rattling breaths, slowly sucking out all happiness from the teenagers in the room.

The three of them never stood a chance – they collapsed to the floor immediately, cradling their heads as images of despair flashed before them.

Corner, who, for all his bluntness, was actually a wimp, was curled up into a ball from the floor, trying to ward off the terrible coldness the Dementors were bringing –

Ginny fell to her knees, clutching her forehead, as Tom Marvolo Riddle began speaking to her once more, crooning, lying, mainuplating –

"No," she moaned, "no!" Images of the Chamber overtook her mind, Harry, dying slowly before her eyes, with no Phoenix around to save him, "NO!" she yelled weakly, "No, not Harry, take me instead, let me die!"

Harry was also in a similar state, replaying the night his parents were murdered by the Dark Lord –

_Lily, it's him! Run – take Harry and run!_

_Stand aside, girl – stand aside –_

_No, not Harry, please, have mercy, have mercy!_

"No, not Harry, take me instead, let me die!" he looked up slowly, painfully, as he realised that it wasn't his mothers voice he was hearing, instead, another redhead was speaking those words, which were eerily similar to those his mother had spoken on that Halloween evening so many years ago.

He could feel the Dementors nearly behind him, coming at him slowly, to end his existence, but he was _damned_ if he'd let them hurt Ginny – warmth blossomed inside him as he took in her lovely face, and her brown eyes, which were normally sparkling and full of joy, but were now dull and lifeless – No, he had to help her –

Slowly, painfully, he stood up, and pulled out his wand, and focusing like he never had before, focusing on thoughts of brown, sparkling, lively eyes, he roared, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

And Prongs burst out of his wand, and charged the Dementors with a fury which had not been present before, and the horrible creatures scattered. Prongs galloped around the three of them in a circle, but they were too far apart, and as he went past Harry, the Dementors were emboldened, and made for Ginny, who was once more driven to her knees, mumbling incoherently.

He saw in horror as Dementors reached out for her, and he yelled again, at his Patronus, "CHARGE!"

And Prongs charged like he never had before, but instead of ramming headlong into the Dementors, the Patronus exploded in a shockwave of pure light, and the Dementors were blown backwards into the different types of furniture they had emerged from.

Wave after wave of bright light radiated out from the spot where Prongs had exploded, and there was an outburst of warmth as Phoenix Song was struck up from somewhere, and Harry, power and adrenaline coursing through his veins, never realised that it was coming from his wand, which was vibrating in his hand.

The other two people in the room stood up and watched in sheer amazement as wave after wave of Dementors was pushed backwards, and instead of the deathly cold, they shivered in pleasure, as warmth, blessed warmth blossomed at the very core of their being, and then shot to every part of their body, setting their nerves afire and their senses tingling.

They watched, amazed, as the light slowly began to fade, and listened, entranced, to the last strains of Phoenix song that was reverberating around the room – they had never seen such power before, and they realised Harry definitely wasn't kidding when he said that he could produce a decent Patronus.

Ginny felt alive, pure, as she listened to the beautiful melody, and images of Harry filled her mind, Harry, standing over her in the Chamber, bleeding, but still telling her that she would be alright, Harry, in Dumbledore's office, standing up for her, and refusing to discredit her, even after she had been stupid enough to write in Riddle's diary, _Harry, _who had just saved her life again, and produced the most amazing magic she had ever seen –

And she realised that Michael Corner would never be anything, as the messy haired, green eyed boy was the only person she could ever love...and without thinking, she ran at him and barrelled into his chest, drawing him into a hug to rival her mothers, and she couldn't stop the tears as she sobbed, "Harry, oh Harry, you saved me again!"

Harry looked down in shock at the tiny redhead, who had hurled herself into his arms – he took in her puffy red eyes, and her tear – streaked face, and her flaming red hair –

He'd never realised how beautiful Ginny Weasley was.

And at that moment, he had an epiphany of a lifetime – the cogs in his head clicked together perfectly, the drumrolls reached a crescendo and ended with a clashing of cymbals, and the fireworks exploded inside his brain, as he realised a truth long coming –

_Harry Potter fancied Ginny bloody Weasley._

_OhmygodIfancyGinnyWeasley,_ went his brain, revelling in the equal amounts of shock and euphoria as it hit upon the truth.

And when the redhead suddenly stiffened in his arms, he realised, shocked, that he'd just muttered that statement out loud.

His cheeks just about burst into flame when Ginny looked up into his eyes (god those puffy red eyes were bloody well killing him!), blank shock on her face. "W – what?" she whispered.

No, no, this wasn't right. This wasn't right at all! Ginny was over him, Hermione had said, and she was with Corner right now – Speaking of which...

"Oy!" spoke up the Ravenclaw from behind Harry, "why is my girlfriend sobbing into your arms like there's no tomorrow?"

He heard Ginny's sharp intake of breath, and he stiffened too, as all the blood rushed to his head –

"I just saved her from a horde of bloody dementors, you sod!" he said, as he rounded on Corner. "And I might add, I saved your bloody hide as well!"

"Well, that doesn't mean she can hurl herself into your arms like a sodding tramp! I heard her, mumbling your name on the floor, Potter -"

CRACK! Corner went flying, blood spraying from his nose, as Harry charged him and sank his fist into his face without abandon...

"You BASTARD!" yelled Harry, his eyes burning a brilliant green, "YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT SHE GOES THROUGH WHEN SHE'S AROUND DEMENTORS, YOU SOD! HOW DARE YOU CALL HER A TRAMP? SHE'S WORTH TWELVE OF YOU, YOU WORTHLESS, NO – GOOD, PIECE OF SCUM!"

Michael stood up, clutching his nose, and attempted to speak, but Harry cut him to it –

"APOLOGIZE!" he roared, "APOLOGIZE, NOW, BEFORE I MAKE YOU, AND MAYBE THEN SHE'LL TAKE YOU BACK WHEN YOU GO CRAWLING TO HER!"

Michael was terrified as Harry levelled his wand at him, and he squealed – _squealed _ - like a little child, and then, in a pathetic attempt to salvage his dignity, he spat, "Be're done!" at Ginny, before turning tail, and _running_ out of the Room of Requirement at full speed.

Ginny's brain, meanwhile, was on hyperfunction, as she tried to process what had just happened –

_Oh my Merlin, HARRY POTTER LIKES ME!_

_How DARE he call me a tramp, that sodding bastard!_

_Ohmygodohmygodohmygod, maybe I will marry Harry Potter after all, _(at this point, she underwent a furious recollection of every single silly fantasy she'd had about Harry, Harry Potter coming to the Burrow on a white horse to sweep her off her feet, Harry Potter fighting a dragon and then flying away with her into the sunset – he'd already done that – Harry Potter holding hands with her as he complimented her beautiful eyes in a poem he'd written just for her, Harry Potter marrying Ginny Weasley – Ginny Potter, Ginevra Potter, Ginevra Molly Potter!) – she barely resisted the urge to squeal, like she used to when she was eleven.

_GET HIM, Harry!_

_Oh my god, look at his arms when he lands that punch _(was it her, or was the room getting hotter?)

_OH WE'RE MOST DEFINITELY DONE, CORNER, YOU SOD! I NEVER LIKED YOU ANYWAY! HARRY'S MUCH BETTER THAN YOU!_

_OH – MY – SODDING – GOD –_

The last one was because Harry had just cast a hurling hex after the retreating figure of her ex – boyfriend, and had just turned towards her – her knees went week as she took in the sight, his hair, which she had fallen in love with the moment she'd seen it, was even messier than normal, his cheeks were tinged pink, and he was breathing heavily, and the power was coming off him in waves, and Merlin, his _eyes –_

His eyes, which she had always thought were his best feature, were practically on fire, resembling emerald infernos behind his glasses – she had never seen anything so bloody _sexy_ as Harry Potter at that moment, winded and furious – and for a split second, she imagined him making his way purposefully over to her, impaling her with those smouldering eyes, and knocking her against the wall, and giving her a snog that would melt her brains to mush, and burn the memory of her first kiss into her brain forever – her knees nearly gave out at the thought, and she found herself breathing heavily too...

And then suddenly, all the anger seemed to leave him as he realised that she was still in the room, and his shoulders hunched, and his eyes were back to their original twinkling green, and he was just Harry again – kind, gentle, courageous Harry, whom she'd fallen in love with after he'd saved her so selflessly from certain death at Tom's hand from the Chamber of Secrets.

And then suddenly it hit her, as she came back to square one.

_Harry Potter liked her._

_Harry Potter fancied Ginny Weasley, he'd said it himself._

_And she was...GINNY WEASLEY! (She was, right?)_

Yes, she definitely was, she decided, after a millisecond of introspection, she was Ginevra Molly Weasley, daughter to Molly and Arthur Weasley, the first female Weasley in seven generations, who had harboured a crush on Harry Potter all through her life.

_And that same Harry Potter liked her now._

And then she was two, saying her first words, the name her mother had repeated so often as she told the only bedtime story that would sent little Ginny to sleep, "Hawweee!"

And she was four, proudly claiming that she would marry Harry Potter when she was older, and getting angry when all of them roared with laughter, except Ron, her favourite brother, who nodded solemnly, as Harry Potter was his hero as well.

And she was six, getting married to her Harry Potter doll in the tree house, while Luna spoke the vows she'd learned from her father, and she was beaming happily as Luna declared that she and Harry were now like Crumple – Horned Snorcacks, bonded for life.

And she was eight, and was hearing about her brother Bill's first kiss, and brazenly claiming that Harry Potter would be her first kiss, and ignoring her brothers' fury at the thought of their little sister kissing another man, even if it was the Boy – Who – Lived – and she even went as far to make a bet with Bill about it, who seemed to take the whole thing as a joke.

And she was ten, jumping up and down with excitement as she received a letter from Ron, which said that _Harry Potter_ was his best friend, and she immediately began planning how pretty she would look when Harry would arrive at the Burrow that summer to visit Ron, so that he would take one look at her and fall in love, and then whisk her off to the castle where he lived, where they'd hold hands and take evening walks together by the lakeside...

And suddenly she was eleven all over again, reduced to a mass of quivering jelly around him, as she blushed like she hadn't in years, as his eyes met hers, and quickly directed themselves at the floor.

_What if she'd just imagined it?_ A horrid voice suddenly spoke up in her head, what if she'd conjured that up while she was caught up in the moment?

Horrified, she quietly made her way to the door before she squealed and ran away like before, but she stopped short as Harry said in a somewhat strangled voice, "Stop!"

She froze, and turned around, ducking her head and hanging her hair like a curtain to shield it from view, but he stepped forward and parted it (she tried to ignore the way her knees shook as his fingers brushed her hair and twined in them for a second as he pushed it back) and looked up for a moment, before ducking her head again, blushing furiously.

Harry looked on as Ginny was reduced to the same shy little girl she had been three years back, but this time, it was because he was Harry, and not Harry Potter (he hoped). Honestly, he wasn't faring much better, he rationalised, as he took in her tomato – red face.

"You look pretty when you blush!" he blurted out, and then his eyes widened in shock as he realised what he'd just said. _Well done, you prat, now she'll think that you're some weird sod who gets his freak on from blushes!_

Of course, the only reaction his words elicited was another furious blush from Ginny, and she looked so cute, and tiny, and frail right then, that he was overcome by an overwhelming urge to hug her.

And suddenly, shocking both himself and Ginny, he threw all caution to the wind (he'd just had a bloody sodding epiphany, for God's sake!), gathered every ounce of his Gryffindor courage (hell, he'd killed a sixty – foot basilisk for her!) and took her gently into his arms.

She froze for a moment, before melting into him (that felt brilliant) and then burrowing her head in his chest, hiding her face from view (which still felt brilliant).

_Well, in for a Knut, in for a Sickle, _he thought, and took a deep breath before locking his fingers under her chin and slowly pulling her head up to face him.

He took a moment to drown in her sparkling brown eyes, before he said, his voice cracking slightly, "I really do like you, Ginny..."

She seemed to be on the verge of tears, he realised in horror (did she not like him, then? Bloody hell, she WAS over him, WHY didn't he listen to Hermione?) as she spoke, in a quavering voice, "B – but how? You don't even notice me!"

Well, that was a bugger of a question.

"Well," he began slowly, "I kind of had an epiphany, you see, and I realised that I have sort of liked you ever since my second year," he carefully avoided mentioning the Chamber, but he knew that she understood, "and I do notice you, without even realising it," which was the truth, he _really_ realised, "and I know that you're extremely strong, and you managed to fight even Voldemort for nearly a year, and you're kind, and funny, and you like cats, and your wand hand is your right hand, but you eat with your left, and you're extremely pretty, and I really love your hair – it's like liquid fire," he said, and she took in a soft breath as he idly touched it, "and it smells like wildflowers – really heady scent – and you have the prettiest brown eyes ever – you have no idea how they sparkle when you're laughing -" he petered off, realising how stupid and corny he sounded.

Ginny was glad she was still in Harry's arm, because she might have melted into a puddle of mush on the floor if he wasn't holding her up –

Feeling weirdly moved and brave after hearing the raw emotion in his voice and knowing that he was being honest – Harry _never_ lied, she asked, "So, you really do like me, huh?"

Her jaw almost dropped in shock, as Harry blushed and mumbled a quick yes, "I'm sorry for not letting you have your first kiss, though," he added, his eyes downcast.

You could have knocked Ginny Weasley over with a feather at that moment – Harry Potter, _Harry_ sodding _Potter_ had just confessed he fancied her, and he was _apologising _for taking away her first kiss, from Michael Prat-Corner, anyway? She doubted that Corner's kiss could've incited the emotions in her that Harry's confession had, and so, feeling brilliantly emboldened (she realised that now she could hold her own like before, now that Harry had so shyly confessed that he liked her too), she said, "Well, you better compensate for that, eh, Harry?"

His eyes shot up, disbelieving, at what she'd just said. "B – but," he spluttered, "Hermione said you'd given up on me, and I thought you liked Corner –"

She cursed Hermione mentally as she inwardly shook her head, "Harry, I'd given up on you because I thought you'd never like me back –" his eyebrows rose, but she continued anyway, "It's always been you, and not the Boy – Who – Lived, ever since you saved me from the Chamber, Harry – you saved me, even though I was your best friend's little sister with a crush on you – and ever since then, I knew that no one else could match up to you, because you're the only one I could ever want –"

Somehow, she knew that she'd said the exactly right thing to him, as a huge grin spread across his face, and his green eyes started twinkling again, "You mean that, really? S – so," he hestitated for a moment, but then steeled himself, and asked the question she'd been dreaming about since she was six, "Will you be my girlfriend? That is, if you want to be –" he went off into Harry-speak, like she knew he was prone to when he was nervous, "And maybe we could go to Hogsmeade together when school re – opens? Just, well, hang out together, if you want to, of course," he added hastily, again.

Ginny effectively shut him up by placing a finger on his lips, and barely quelling the euphoria that was spreading through her, she squealed out, "Of course, I'll be your girlfriend, Harry!"

And before she knew it, his lips was on her, and by Merlin, Ginny Weasley's first kiss was beyond all expectations, and that was her last thought before her brain literally melted into mush inside her head.

As Ginny moaned and granted access to her mouth, and Harry decided that he was glad that his little Christmas episode had played out this way, and he was kissing the person who he really wanted to –

And his last rational thought was, _thank god for epiphanies._


End file.
